D
rive-in Havdalah.
Programs in the park
and on driveways.
Teaching in tents. Camp-style
learning in an actual camp.
Detroit’
s religious school edu-
cators are pulling out the stops
on creativity to engage their
students in the age of COVID.
While several have opted for
all-virtual programming, others
took advantage of Michigan’
s
mild autumn weather by hold-
ing classes and other education-
al programs outdoors as long as
they could.
Congregation Shir Tikvah in
Troy has gone primarily online
but kicked off its school year
with an in-person, drive-in-style
Havdalah program with camp
crafts and songs. The program
also gave the community a good
opportunity to meet their new
rabbi, Alicia Harris, in person.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
in Southfield used its spacious
outdoor William Saulson
Pavilion for several pop-up pro-
grams, with participants appro-
priately distanced.
Temple Israel in West
Bloomfield put up a large tent
over the summer and planned
to use it through October.
“Students and parents were
thrilled that we were offering
safe options to be together in
person, and everyone was so
happy to see one another,
” said
Rabbi Arianna Gordon, director
of education and lifelong learn-
ing.
In the JEMS (Jewish
Education Matters) program at
The Shul in West Bloomfield,
instructors visited pods of chil-
dren on their home driveways,
with lessons that engaged the
whole family.
Shir Shalom in West
Bloomfield was one of several
schools that offered families a
choice of in-person and online
programs. For the in-person
programs, they used the fields
and shelters at the Jewish
Community Center day camp.
“
A number of years ago, we
moved to a camp-style model of
programming. Walking down
the gravel road at the JCC has
made our program feel even
more like being at camp,
” said
Rabbi Daniel A. Schwartz,
who expects the outdoor pro-
gramming to continue until
Thanksgiving and then start up
again in early March.
Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township offered families a
choice of weekly online sessions
or a series of six in-person
workshops held outdoors under
a tent. Students can choose
to enroll in both tracks. “The
in-person programs have been
more popular, especially since
so many of our students began
the year doing their secular
schooling exclusively online,
”
said Deborah Morosohk, direc-
tor of education. More than a
few have chosen to do both the
virtual and in-person programs.
Like public and private
schools, religious schools had
to scramble when COVID shut
down all but the most essential
services in the state in mid-
March. Administrators and
faculty started planning then for
what they would do this year.
Yachad, the joint school for
Congregation Beth Shalom
and Temple Emanu-El, both in
Oak Park, decided to delay the
start of the school year so that
families could settle into their
new secular school routines.
The school offers two options,
one with Zoom classes and one
where students learn in small
pods, said Abi Taylor-Abt, edu-
cator rabbi.
Melissa Ser, director of educa-
tion at Adat Shalom Synagogue
in Farmington Hills, said she
TEMPLE BETH EL
Religious Schools
Confront COVID
Congregations adapt to the
pandemic to ensure young people
can grow and thrive Jewishly.
BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
IN
THE
JEWS D
Young people gather
at Temple Beth El.
Bailey Columbus and Josephine
Frank at an outdoor Shir Shalom
program.
SHIR SHALOM
“STUDENTS AND PARENTS
WERE THRILLED THAT WE WERE
OFFERING SAFE OPTIONS TO BE
TOGETHER IN PERSON.”
— TEMPLE ISRAEL RABBI ARIANNA GORDON
YACHAD
Liam and Alice
Moser attend an
online Yachad
program.
22 | OCTOBER 22 • 2020